Vancouver-based Taseko Mines (TSX:TKO) has long contended that its controversial New Prosperity project, a copper-gold deposit located 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake, is Canada’s largest untouched ore body.
If developed, billions in tax revenue would flow into federal and provincial coffers from the mine. Communities in the region would benefit from much needed long-term jobs. And New Prosperity is environmentally sustainable, Taseko said.
But for the second time, the project has failed a critical environmental assessment.
In a 323-page report released early November 1 – little more than two months after a lengthy public hearing regarding New Prosperity concluded in Williams Lake – a three-person federal review panel concluded that development of the mine would result in “several significant adverse environmental effects.”
Chief among the concerns cited in the report is New Prosperity’s impact on the water quality in Fish Lake, which is located adjacent to where New Prosperity would be built. According to the panel, Taseko underestimated the volume of tailings that would seep from the mine’s tailings facility, located two kilometers upstream from Fish Lake.
At the hearings, University of British Columbia professor Erick Eberhardt, testified that a thorough monitoring system could capture between 80% and 90% of the seepage from the tailings pond. Taseko, in its submissions to the panel, had proposed a monitoring system.
“Although the seepage mitigation measures proposed by Taseko have the potential to substantially reduce the volume of seepage, the panel concludes it would not eliminate seepage from entering Fish Lake. The panel concludes the concentration of contaminants of concern in Fish Lake would be considerably larger than Taseko’s predictions and that…would be a significant problem that is unlikely to be [mitigated] in the long term,” reads the report.
It added that liquid from the tailings pond would have a negative effect on fish and fish habitat in the lake.
Also cited in the report is the use of the area for ceremonial and spiritual purposes by local First Nations communities and a negative effect on grizzly bears if the mine was built.
“We strongly disagree with the findings on water quality,” said Brian Battison, vice-president of public affairs at Taseko.
“Respectfully, they made a mistake. We plan to challenge the report. Where we disagree, we will capture that, inform them of their mistake with correct data.”
The last time the project went before a federal review panel was in 2010. Fish Lake was at the centre of the controversy then as well. In an earlier design of the project, then known as Prosperity, Taseko claimed it would have to drain Fish Lake in order to build a tailings pond and a pit to store waste rock.
The Tsilqot’in National Government (TNG), a council representing five First Nations communities on whose traditional land the project is proposed, vehemently opposed draining of the lake at the time. And Ottawa agreed: the federal government ultimately rejected the project due to environmental concerns.
The provincial government, on the other hand, approved the venture because of the economic benefits the mine would produce.
After the federal government’s refusal, Taseko re-drew the project and moved the tailings pond to save Fish Lake. The company claimed the move would cost an additional $300 million, pushing the mine’s price tag north of $1 billion.
That change did little to dissuade the Tsilqot’in, however. Joe Alphonse, chief of TNG, told Business in Vancouver that no amount of changes to the project would appease his community. Building a mine anywhere near Fish Lake would be met with opposition.
“This is the second time, and we’ve never wavered,” said Alphonse.
“We had nothing to lose. We only had our honour, our elders and our history. When you’re in our shoes, you can only dream of a report like this. We are confident this mine will never be developed.”
Marilyn Baptiste, secretary treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and a councillor with the Xeni Gwet'in First Nations government, echoed Alphonse’s sentiments.
“We feel pretty darn good. This is exactly what we were looking for,” said Baptiste.
“This mine was rejected in the last go-around and the same is happening this go-around. The environmental assessment panel has done its job. We are honoured that our people have been listened to.”
The federal government has 120 days to make a decision on the project. The government can ignore the report’s recommendations.
In that event, Alphonse said he is prepared for a lengthy legal battle.
“Our people are not concerned. We have all the ammunition – all the arrowheads we need,” said Alphonse.
“If the government wants to push this through, we’ll tie this up in court.”
New Prosperity by the numbers
- Estimates peg the deposit as containing 5.3 billion pounds of copper and 13.3 million ounces of gold
- New Prosperity would produce an estimated $5.52 billion in tax revenue for the provincial government and $4.3 billion for the federal government
- The mine is expected to generate $11 billion in GDP and 57,000 person years of employment over a 20-year lifespan
- Taseko has spent $120 million on engineering work on the project since 1994. If built, the company anticipates spending an additional $60 million on detailed designs for the tailings pond and other components of the project
The Williams Case
The Tsilqot’in National Government has argued that New Prosperity is located on its traditional land, a 4,000-kilometre area west of Williams Lake.
Developing New Prosperity, according to the Tsilqot’in, would infringe on its aboriginal rights and title.
Taseko has rejected that assertion, claiming that New Prosperity is on Crown land.
In 2007, the dispute, known as the Williams Case, was heard in BC Supreme Court. The court did not grant the Tsilqot’in title, but did rule the Tsilqot’in had rights to hunt in the area.
The ruling was challenged in the BC Court of Appeal, which upheld the decision.
The case is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court of Canada this month.
